Early intervention meant the world to young Emmet and his family

Sabrina Chapman and her sister Natasha Shannon take on marathon challenge to ‘give something back’ for vital services that help son’s development

The proud mum of a young boy from Oldcastle with Down Syndrome says she took on the virtual women’s mini marathon to ‘give back’ to families like theirs who benefit from early intervention.

Last Sunday October 3rd Sabrina Chapman and her sister Natasha Shannon embarked on a 10km marathon in Oldcastle to raise funds for Down Syndrome Louth Meath, a service that Sabrina says is “vital” to her five-year-old son Emmet’s development.

Little Emmet who was diagnosed with Down Syndrome when he was born benefits from an early intervention home teacher who calls every two weeks to the family home and provides one to one learning to help him prepare for school, an initiative by funded by Down Syndrome Louth Meath.

The Louth/Meath Branch represents approximately 250 member families throughout Meath and Louth and is run on a completely voluntary basis.

The early intervention home teacher for children age 1 - 6 years is only one of the many services, that the branch offers to families.

Sabrina and her sister Natasha’s efforts have so far raised €2,300 for the service.

The mum of two explains why it is important to fundraise for this cause:

“To be able to fundraise for something that we benefit from is brilliant and it is lovely to give something back.

“Emmet’s home teacher Bernadette has been coming to us since he was one and fundraising will help allow her and her colleagues to keep this service going for families in Meath and Louth.”

Sabrina, who is also mum to Fia (3), says her family has had only “a positive experience” since Emmet’s diagnosis and given the fact he was so ill when he was born made her further realise that Down Syndrome was “not the end of the world.”

“Emmet was born blue and was rushed to Crumlin straight away because they thought there was something wrong with his heart and the first couple of days we didn’t know if he’d make it or not.

“He spent the first month of his life in Crumlin.

“His muscle tone would be quite delayed and he developed infantile spasms (a seizure disorder in babies) at eight months old.”

Thankfully Emmet made it home after a few weeks but the experience made Sabrina and her husband Derek even more grateful for their little bundle of joy. She said:

“The problem in the end was the pipework of his heart. He has a small hole in his heart and a slight heart mummer, but they are not concerned about either thankfully.”

“Because he was so ill it probably helped us accept the diagnosis a lot better.

“There was never anyone speaking negatively about Down Syndrome which was lovely, we had a great experience.

“We saw a lot of very sick children when we were in ICU and even a child who sadly passed away, it made it all a lot more realistic that Down Syndrome was something that was not the end of the world. We had a perfectly healthy baby and we were grateful for him and we want to enjoy him and to make the most of him, he is everything to us, we are very lucky.

“I know there are some people who find it hard to accept a diagnosis but I just feel as a mother, I try my best for him. He has a lot of delays so all of these extra supports are important and I like to get him involved in everything he can be involved in to push him to his best.”